The little Peugeot 202 reminded me of some shots I took at the Paris Auto Show a couple of years ago of the Peugeot 601 Éclipse, the world’s first retractable hardtop. The 601 was Peugeot’s largest and most expensive car at the time, with a 2148cc six. Designer Georges Paulin came up with the idea, and coach builder Pourtout built it. Here’s a shot of it in action:

The top was electrically powered, and dropped into the opened “trunk”, setting a precedent that is still being used today, albeit with a folded roof section. From looking at the car I shot, I assumed it was a two-seater. But this pictures shows four aboard, although I suspect the rear seat might have been a bit cozy.

Needless to say, the “trunk” was rather lengthy in order to stow the roof. That also set a precedent: seems like all retractable hardtops still suffer from bulging butt syndrome.

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This proves that all things old become new again. I imagine the 601 was just the ticket for a leisurely, sun-splashed cruise down the straight, poplar-lined roads from Paris to Cannes and Nice. Can’t you visualize Jean Gabin behind the wheel?

At the Wheels on Windsor car show Ive been drip feeding onto the cohort there was a Ford Sunliner and the owner fired it up to do its trick of putting the roof in the boot very cool not even a patch on this though.

I didn’t mean this one was bad looking in back, but its proportions were decidedly different because of the need to stow the unfolded roof. Cabrios and coupes in the thirties had “trunks” that flowed down more rapidly, and didn’t extend past the rear wheel so far. Necessity dictated the extra length and height.

Last but not least: the 1935 version of the Peugeot 601 Eclipse — special design by Paulin, a very talented amateur (actually a dentist by trade) who worked with Pourtout in the 30s. This one was bought by film-maker Marcel Pagnol and can be seen in his 1938 film “Le Schpountz”. Aside from the retractable tin-top, one of the first examples of true ‘pontoon’ design.

Didn’t Peugeot eventually ditch the electrical operation for the Éclipse Decapotable? I dimly remember something about their deciding the motors were just too unreliable and making it manually raised and lowered.

The éclypse use in illustration was the propriety of a private car museum in Suisse (www.musee-muriaux.ch/)‎. I have the chance to see here use is incredible technologies to denude is so beautiful drawing.
The PAGNOL’s one, stay alive in a private collection in south west of France. I have heard that it was probably one of the biggest collection of Peugeot in the world, but apparently only happy few have visiting this Alibaba’s cavern. Perhaps a false information, or another “trésor à découvrir”